Paganism is a nature based religion, and it doesn't have much structure (although Wicca seems to). It's hard to define, because paganism is an umbrella term, it encompasses so many beliefs. Many pagans worship The God and Goddess, although this is not compulsory. Similarly, some worship pantheons (like Greke or Celtic gods and goddesses), and others worship no god.
It's probably best that someone who has been pagan for longer answers this, they might be able to word it better

(Original post by Pandora.)
Paganism is a nature based religion, and it doesn't have much structure (although Wicca seems to). It's hard to define, because paganism is an umbrella term, it encompasses so many beliefs. Many pagans worship The God and Goddess, although this is not compulsory. Similarly, some worship pantheons (like Greke or Celtic gods and goddesses), and others worship no god.
It's probably best that someone who has been pagan for longer answers this, they might be able to word it better

Paganism isn't a religion at all. That's completely the wrong thing to say.

Paganism is a term which covers, in our current era, essentially any nature based set of beliefs that are not associated with any of the main religions. There are many pagan religions, but they are all reconstructions and whilst many claim to have direct ties with the pre-Christian religions of Europe, they do not. They just use the information we have on them and base their beliefs round that.

Thus, LeVayan Satanism is not a pagan religion. It's more of a lifestyle and utter bull****. Satanism isn't either, seeing as to worship Satan it involves a believing in God.

The God and the Goddess is a rather Wiccan influenced belief within paganism, stemming from their Lord and Lady. You'll find that Wicca is probably the most popular of the organised pagan religions around, with Ásatrú coming in a close second. Wicca, unlike Ásatrú, is not based on any one religion, but is an attempted reconstruction of pre-Christian European religions which takes ideas from various religions across the world. It is very malleable and adaptable, even allowing some to call themselves Christian Wiccans, a term I have issue with, but that's neither here nor there.

What all pagan religions share is a belief in some form of the divine inherent in nature, in some form, that is not found in the other religions. Some pagans believe all the Gods exist; others argue for a more Jungian interpretation and that all of the Gods and Goddesses are just personifications of archetypes empowered by a divine force which is neither male nor female; others argue that there exists one God and one Goddess and all the others are just personality attributes of theirs: thus Þórr and Hercules and Indra are just personifications of certain archetypes found within the God/Lord; others pick a certain tribe of Gods and worship them as closely as they can; others feel that the Gods are just personifications of natural phenomena which are inherently divine. As you can see, there's quite a range and I haven't really discuss them all.

There is no set belief in paganism, aside from a belief in the divine in nature. Thus, it is very hard to pin down and very hard to state what pagans do and do not believe.

(Original post by Hylean)Paganism isn't a religion at all. That's completely the wrong thing to say.

Paganism is a term which covers, in our current era, essentially any nature based set of beliefs that are not associated with any of the main religions. There are many pagan religions, but they are all reconstructions and whilst many claim to have direct ties with the pre-Christian religions of Europe, they do not. They just use the information we have on them and base their beliefs round that.

Thus, LeVayan Satanism is not a pagan religion. It's more of a lifestyle and utter bull****. Satanism isn't either, seeing as to worship Satan it involves a believing in God.

The God and the Goddess is a rather Wiccan influenced belief within paganism, stemming from their Lord and Lady. You'll find that Wicca is probably the most popular of the organised pagan religions around, with Ásatrú coming in a close second. Wicca, unlike Ásatrú, is not based on any one religion, but is an attempted reconstruction of pre-Christian European religions which takes ideas from various religions across the world. It is very malleable and adaptable, even allowing some to call themselves Christian Wiccans, a term I have issue with, but that's neither here nor there.

What all pagan religions share is a belief in some form of the divine inherent in nature, in some form, that is not found in the other religions. Some pagans believe all the Gods exist; others argue for a more Jungian interpretation and that all of the Gods and Goddesses are just personifications of archetypes empowered by a divine force which is neither male nor female; others argue that there exists one God and one Goddess and all the others are just personality attributes of theirs: thus Þórr and Hercules and Indra are just personifications of certain archetypes found within the God/Lord; others pick a certain tribe of Gods and worship them as closely as they can; others feel that the Gods are just personifications of natural phenomena which are inherently divine. As you can see, there's quite a range and I haven't really discuss them all.

There is no set belief in paganism, aside from a belief in the divine in nature. Thus, it is very hard to pin down and very hard to state what pagans do and do not believe.

Yeah, kinda similar story to other people. Brought up as a Christian. Got really into it when I was 11/12 I think because I wanted to belong. Then a week before I was going to be confirmed I realised that I didn't agree with a lot of stuff I'd been told I had to believe to be a Christian. So I refused to be confirmed and stopped going to church.
Started researching other religions. Came across Wicca when I was 13. Called myself wiccan and tried to practise until I was about 15 when I realised that I didn't actually agree with Wicca either. However, I did like the whole nature side of things so carried on researching other pagan paths as well as other religions.

Now I just call myself Pagan. I don't follow one path. I have a mixture of beliefs stemming from several different paths/religions as well as some stuff which I made up myself. (Although I have found that there are terms and names for those beliefs but I can never remember them )

I follow the whole universe = divine, divine = the universe thing. However, I don't worship that. I don't follow any deities or anything. I don't think something along the idea of a "God/Goddess" exists. I hate, hate, hate, HATE the idea that pretty much all religions have that if a higher power exists it looks human and is only concerned with what humans do. Heck, if it does exist, why on earth would it give a **** about humans? Do (the vast majority) of humans care what ants get up to in their lives etc etc? I don't see why (and can't agree with any religion that teaches this) any sort of higher power should care about humans any more than the rest of the planet? That whole idea just sums up how arrogant humans are.

Yeah, so I don't worship or believe in any sort of deity. However, I do believe that there is a power that runs through all things. I am a witch as well. It's fun.
In all seriousness, I do believe in magic. I've seen it work.

I also attempt to practise shamanic dreaming. Been learning for a few years.

Umm.. I do tarot cards sometimes but I prefer my oracle cards really. (I don't believe that tarot/oracle cards can tell the future or any of that BS. The cards themselves have no power. What I use them for is problem solving basically and I think it's my subconscious that picks out the cards. Any cards in the spread that relate to the future are how it might pan out if a course of action is continued or implemented... )

Umm.. I do tarot cards sometimes but I prefer my oracle cards really. (I don't believe that tarot/oracle cards can tell the future or any of that BS. The cards themselves have no power. What I use them for is problem solving basically and I think it's my subconscious that picks out the cards. Any cards in the spread that relate to the future are how it might pan out if a course of action is continued or implemented... )

I have a lot of fun with crystals as well.

heh, you don't sound like a freak at all!

I never really got on with oracle cards, just couldn't get the hang of them, really. Love my tarot deck though it's the one that you can get in the little kit from waterstones, think it's called the Nova tarot. I have really little hands so it's great, since they are normal card size, not huge like tarot cards usually are. My boyfriend got me a bautiful medieval Cat Tarot (Love cats and studied history at uni) but I find it quite difficult to handle. I prefer just to look at it!

(Original post by Teao the Cat)
heh, you don't sound like a freak at all!

I never really got on with oracle cards, just couldn't get the hang of them, really. Love my tarot deck though it's the one that you can get in the little kit from waterstones, think it's called the Nova tarot. I have really little hands so it's great, since they are normal card size, not huge like tarot cards usually are. My boyfriend got me a bautiful medieval Cat Tarot (Love cats and studied history at uni) but I find it quite difficult to handle. I prefer just to look at it!

I have a fair few tarot decks and a some oracle cards but I only really use one deck. When I was 15 or so I went into the pagan shop in town with the intent to buy a tarot deck. But I saw the Druid Animal Oracle cards and ended up buying them. I've tried to use tarot cards but I always get better results with my Druid Animal Oracle. (But only for me.. If I try to read for other people the readings aren't right so I only read for other people with tarot.)

My list:

tarot decks

The Mystic Faerie tarot (This is the tarot deck I usually use.)
The DruidCraft tarot.
The Original Rider Waite Tarot
The Universal Rider Waite Tarot
The Gilded Tarot (brought because of reviews on the internet.. Apparently it's amazing. I hated it. Gave it away.)
The Cosmic Tarot. (Gave it away.)
Tarot of the Secret Garden
The Universal Goddess Tarot.
The Animal Divine Tarot.
The Llewellyn Tarot.

I think I might have more but I can't remember and most of them are at home so I can't double check.

oracle cards

The Druid Animal Oracle (My usual deck.)
The Druid Plant Oracle.
The Green Man Tree Oracle.
The Celtic Oracle. (Ended up giving this one away as one of my (pagan) friends connected with it so I gave it to him. )

OK, I'm certain that I have more but I can't double-check as they're at home.

I also have the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards. Some friends brought them for me as a joke present. They're actually quite fun to use.

(Original post by Hravan)
I have a fair few tarot decks and a some oracle cards but I only really use one deck. When I was 15 or so I went into the pagan shop in town with the intent to buy a tarot deck. But I saw the Druid Animal Oracle cards and ended up buying them. I've tried to use tarot cards but I always get better results with my Druid Animal Oracle. (But only for me.. If I try to read for other people the readings aren't right so I only read for other people with tarot.)

My list:

tarot decks

The Mystic Faerie tarot (This is the tarot deck I usually use.)
The DruidCraft tarot.
The Original Rider Waite Tarot
The Universal Rider Waite Tarot
The Gilded Tarot (brought because of reviews on the internet.. Apparently it's amazing. I hated it. Gave it away.)
The Cosmic Tarot. (Gave it away.)
Tarot of the Secret Garden
The Universal Goddess Tarot.
The Animal Divine Tarot.
The Llewellyn Tarot.

I think I might have more but I can't remember and most of them are at home so I can't double check.

oracle cards

The Druid Animal Oracle (My usual deck.)
The Druid Plant Oracle.
The Green Man Tree Oracle.
The Celtic Oracle. (Ended up giving this one away as one of my (pagan) friends connected with it so I gave it to him. )

OK, I'm certain that I have more but I can't double-check as they're at home.

I also have the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards. Some friends brought them for me as a joke present. They're actually quite fun to use.

Heh, nice to hear that other people have their preferences on tarot decks, and it's not just me! I've never much like the Rider Waite, to be honest. Friend of mine had them, but they always felt wrong to me. I think I'm just more comfortable with the nova ones, possibly, beacuse like Hravan and the oracle, it's the frist deck? Don't know.

As an funny little story, a friend of mine swore by my tarot readings, and always wanted me to do one whenever she had some descision to make. Somewehre in the reading, the nine of pentacles would always appear, and the little book that came with the deck (which, as you will be able to tell, had some odd descriptions!) claimed that it meant she would one day have a gazebo. So, it will of course become a self fulfilling prophecy, since I have every intention of buying her a gazebo when she gets a house with a garden!

So, what do we feel on upside down cards, people? I ignore them, but I know people who follow the 'reversed meaning' school of thought on it.

(Original post by Teao the Cat)
Heh, nice to hear that other people have their preferences on tarot decks, and it's not just me! I've never much like the Rider Waite, to be honest. Friend of mine had them, but they always felt wrong to me. I think I'm just more comfortable with the nova ones, possibly, beacuse like Hravan and the oracle, it's the frist deck? Don't know.

So, what do we feel on upside down cards, people? I ignore them, but I know people who follow the 'reversed meaning' school of thought on it.

Surely if the cards have a meaning and are to show you something then the fact they appear upside down means something. If there is a force guiding them, then it's reversed them for a reason.